The point of the post is not to bash the President but to get the American people more interested in issues that matter instead of wasting their time with 25 year old blonds. I am a vet, and I am on my way to holding a Masters, and I thought you would have realized the point being an educated person. It is not a political argument - it is a social commentary. I don't mean to denigrate the Presidential Medal of Freedom with a comparison to a pop star as much as I mean to draw awareness, with dramatic and obviously humorous examples, to where the bulk of media attention is misplaced.

You are correct about Clinton in his days as well, it is another good example of the same issue of 'Breads and CIrcuses', which is the only real point of this commentary.

I did not go by the Rent This gallery but I will soon because it sounds interesting. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

With all of the artists we have in this area it is a shame more high quality stuff isn't being produced. Making affordable, but lower quality work can be so tempting. There has to be artists how make great art for the sake of great art, not great profit, before this area will truly be known for the arts.

And that's just the way it is. Any wannabe can get out there and do some cartoonie stick people on a slopped together colorful background - and if anyone can do it it is not high quality art - it is just cartoonie stick people on a slopped together colorful background that any wannabe can do.

I want to see the real artists step forward and start displaying the work that makes the public STOP in their tracks and say WOW - now that is a work of art!

These guys are great in concert. I saw them play at Messiah College and it was one of the better shows I have ever seen. Colin Meloy's voice is like a hundred saxaphones playing in tune cutting through everything else.

Don't I know it! I am glad other people are upset at this as well. They ruled that the owner did not have a permit and needed one. It seems that that is a nitpicky way of saying "I don't like what you like so I am going to dig until I find something little that says you are wrong and I am right." But it does seems that something like this needed to happen to a Kiefer piece. He needed some more controversy as a way of validating what he is talking about in his works. This controversy is his proof.

Yes I think I agree with your assessment of me - I do tend to be a bit of an overly sensitive artist from time to time. What I may be most sensitive about is the whole "art is subjective so there can be no discussion" attitude I get from artists who shy away from making decisions about art. The whole point of my blog is to educate, inform, provide examples, and to qualify art in an age of disposable sharks, money-no-object collectors, and Thomas Kincade. We did agree about the notion of kitsch and how it is not always the devils art marketing tool. But when you start to ask the pointless question "who gets to make the judgment" about art I feel compelled to answer, even if somewhat overly aggressive, sensitive, and vehement. I don't want people to start ending conversations with the same old questions that have no answers. We need to move on to better things and keep art conversations going on track. The discussion about kitsch was about kitsch, not about who gets to judge - we were already doing that.

Sheree -
It is really hard to say that your father was wrong for his particular passion. I get this vision of a cute old guy self-content sitting in his own world with a smile on his face surrounded by the things he likes. That may be a little over the top bucolic but still - is he wrong for liking what he liked? I would answer no, and that it is not a bad thing to be attracted and pleased with kitschy type artwork. There is nothing to suggest that he shut the door on the broader artworld, the one of deeper thought and complexity - but that is what I am afraid of from people who over indulge in kitsch. I am afraid that kitsch work turns into something like a drug that makes the viewer happy but doesn't really add anything. It is quite possible that in your fathers' case nothing needed added, maybe he knew that too and just enjoyed what he enjoyed. I think the car sounded pretty cool though.

---------You said in your reply "That brings me to ask what art is good? What art is bad? Who gets to make the judgment? What is the criterion?" I feel that that is a defeatist reply when faced with judgment questions about art. You can argue all day long about the subjectivity of art but that doesn't change the fact that people talk about and judge art anyway and we all have a right to. To shut the door to further conversation with questions like "what is art" is silly and fruitless. I judge art and I will regardless of your volition. I judge it based on years of personal experience, years of study and travel, and years of conversations where I don't cower away from making personal statements and decisions. You and others may disagree with what I have to say but that doesn't mean I have not contributed to the conversation of art in a progressive way. I judge art whether you like it or not.

I totally agree with you. There is so much undergroud free artwork that is actually high quality, there are a lot of Blue Chip artists featured down there. I will be sneaking more of them into the blog when I can.

The last time I was up to the city I asked a few New Yorkers about it, if they had seen them. Most people just rush past them but do notice that they exist, but they don't really look and think. I have a good picture of the sculpture group you mentioned - it is a funny one. I am glad you noticed them and I am glad you read the blog too!

It is a shame that old Buchanan is something of a local. I remember touring his house on a field trip thinking he was some kind of cool guy - at least he got me out of the classroom for a day. I highly doubt that I could ever fill the shoes of a President (effective breads and circuses) but why is it in-vogue to rank the worst? What do you get out of it? (Of course it's bait!)

Do you shop at Aldi's at all? There is one by the Harrisburg Wal-mart. You have to bring your own bags, I believe it is a European store concept. And they have a lot of cheap stuff - even cheaper than some Wal-mart prices.